Chapter Fifteen

The sound of birds chirping in the early morning made Keiran’s eyelids slowly lift open. It took him a minute to realize where he had fallen asleep. Taking a look around, he saw the living room of Luna’s pack house, and only when the thought of her ran through his head did he notice the sleeping mass that was lying against his chest.

He and Luna had talked through the entire night, and at some point, she had fallen asleep against him. He felt comfortable here, with his arm tucked around her protectively. Letting out a breath, he rested his head against the arm rest of the couch and closed his eyes. He didn’t want to disturb her, so he didn’t move.

A few minutes later, he felt her face nuzzling against his chest. Her hair tickled his neck and he let out a soft grunt. She lifted her head and peered at him with sleepy eyes. “Keiran?”

He gave her a smile, hoping like hell that she wouldn’t notice how she had managed to make his body react to her…by just waking up. “Good morning.”

She sat up by pushing against his chest, and there were lines against her cheek from the folds of his shirt that she had slept against. She rubbed at her eyes and stretched her back. He was sure she didn’t do it on purpose, but the way her back arched wasn’t helping the erection behind the zipper of his jeans.

“It’s quiet,” she said on an exhaled breath and he nodded his head.

“It’s the quiet before the storm.” He sat up and stretched too. Though he hadn’t minded her falling asleep against him, it wasn’t the most comfortable position for his back.

His statement reminded her of what had happened and all at once, it visibly came right back down on her shoulders. Frowning as she rubbed her forehead with frustration, he reached out and placed his hand on the middle of her back, massaging it just slightly.           

“Don’t worry,” he tried to reassure her. “We’ll work this out, and it’ll all be fine. We can talk with our betas and come up with some sort of plan.”

She took in a breath and nodded her head again. “Right, okay…”

He stood up from the couch and pulled her up with him. They got something to eat for breakfast before waking up their betas.

Keiran pounded on Blaez’s bedroom door and was greeted by the male’s middle finger. He couldn’t help but smirk. “Come on, we’re having a meeting.”

The four of them went to the small computer room, each of them in somber moods. He and Luna sat on the sofa; Blaez sat in the computer chair.

Rafe leaned against the wall. “I guess we’re getting down to the gritty detailed part of the plan today?”

“Yes,” Luna looked over at him with concern.

“Don’t look at me like that, Luna. I’m fine.”

She started to argue, but Blaez interrupted. “Let’s get this started…first question, when are we going to do this?”

“It has to be soon. We can’t afford to wait till the next full moon,” Keiran answered.

“How about a week from tonight then?” Rafe rolled his shoulders in a shrug.

Keiran looked over at Luna who had gone quiet. She furrowed her brows and covered her mouth with the tips of her fingers, thinking. “Fine, we can do it then. But I do want all of you to know that I will be getting Larentia’s permission, right after this. If she doesn’t approve, all of this won’t be happening.”

“Of course,” Rafe bowed his head at the mention of their goddess.

Keiran’s eyebrow shot up. Luna had actually talked to the goddess?

He didn’t get the chance to ask her to elaborate on that subject.

“Okay, uh…next part of this whole ordeal. How are we going to get Robert to follow us out?” She rubbed her forehead as if a headache was pounding between her temples.

“A couple of us can go out around areas that we know the hunters frequent. We can talk about the run as if we don’t know they’re listening. They take the information back to Robert.” Once again, Blaez offered his fighting tactics.

“Don’t you think they’ll figure out it’s a trap?” Rafe’s voice was full of doubt.

“No, Robert’s at a point where he’ll take anything he can get. One of us might have been killed, but she wasn’t an alpha. It wasn’t enough for him,” Blaez replied.

Rafe growled and Luna held her hand out to stop him.

“Sorry,” Blaez muttered.

Rafe took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut. “It’s okay.”

They all took a moment to recover from the pain of Maddie’s death; even Keiran was feeling the sadness of loss. It somehow seemed that Luna’s pack was becoming a part of his as well.

“Alright,” Luna breathed. “Who is going to go out and talk about the run?”

“Me,” Blaez volunteered, just as Keiran was expecting.

“Me, too,” said Rafe.

“Seth will want to go, too.” Keiran nodded his head.

“So will Raul, but I’m not going to allow it. He’ll put himself in enough danger when we actually do this.” Luna decided and looked around at them all. “What about the actual night?”

Keiran thought for a minute. “We can head for Wolf’s Cavern. He’ll get stuck in the dip that the rocks form once we split up and run around each side. Then we jump down and…”

“Bam, Raul takes care of business…while we take care of the other hunters with Robert,” Blaez finished.

“You make it sound so easy.” Luna sighed.

“Cause it will be.”

She shook her head. “You’re not thinking about all the emotion behind this.”

Blaez frowned just slightly and sat back in the chair, dropping his eyes to the floor. Keiran didn’t blame him, though, and he could tell Luna didn’t either.

Another beat of silence passed and he took a breath. “So that’s that?”

“That’s that,” Luna answered.

They sat there and all stared at the floor, trying to take in what they had agreed on. They would have to inform the packs of the plan, of course…

Luna stood up and looked down at him, offering her hand. “Come on, we have to talk to Larentia about this.”

His eyebrow rose again and he stood up, taking her hand. They walked out together and into her bedroom. Watching as she knelt in the middle of her room, he rubbed the back of his neck and admitted nervously. “I’ve never talked to Larentia…”

She looked back over her shoulder at him, shock playing at the sides of her eyes. “Not even when you became alpha?”

He shook his head no. “I knew about her, but never heard anything from her. I knew alphas were supposed to hear from her and talk to her, so when I never did, I just assumed I wasn’t doing something right.”

She reached out and took his hand, pulling him to his knees next to her. “Larentia works in her own time, and when you talk to her, she talks to you. It’s a two-way thing; it’s not all just her, Keiran.” She gave him a smile as if letting him know she wasn’t condemning him.

It still made him felt guilty.

“Close your eyes and imagine her, Keiran.”

He wasn’t sure what to imagine, but he closed his eyes anyways. He took her hand without even realizing it and squeezed it hard. She squeezed back and the sound of wind whipping around them filled and echoed in his ears.

He opened them before she told him to, and he realized the difference already. They were still in Luna’s room, but it was different. The room was brighter, and it seemed like the once defined edges of the room were now blurred, as if the particles of the air were moving so much faster than normal.

They definitely weren’t alone.

The voice was deep for a female, and as it rang through the air, it sent chills down his spine. At the same time, he felt a respectful fear for the owner of the voice as well as feeling so calm.

“My children…Keiran and Luna.”

He lifted his head just as Luna did, and he could feel the excitement radiating from Luna’s body. The cloaked figure before them was the reason the room seemed so blurry. Her figure was the most defined thing he had ever seen, and the light that filled the room emanated from her body. Her face was covered by the cloak she wore, but he could sense the emotions that were displayed on her face.

“Mother,” Luna replied.

“It is good to see you again, child…and Keiran, I am surprised to see you, my son. Your presence is most welcome. But I cannot deny the curiosity that grows within my being. Why now, son?”

He took a steady breath but let it out shakily. “I wish I could say.”

She held out a hand, a soft chuckle rumbling from inside her cloak. “You did not believe, but you do now, am I correct?”

She had him there. “Yes,” he grunted out. How could he not believe what was right before his very eyes?

“Mother, we’ve come for permission,” Luna lowered her head in respect.

“I know what you seek, but we will get to that momentarily. You know what your wolves have showed you, yes?”

They both nodded.

“What have you done to act upon this?”

Keiran swallowed hard and looked at the blush on Luna’s cheeks. “We want to take it slow, but we do believe our wolves, of course.”

“Have you thought about what your mating will do for the packs you lead?”

The blush on Luna’s cheeks burned even more. “No, Mother.”

“After you successfully complete this run that you have planned, to which I give full permission, you will have to join the packs.”

Keiran lifted his head. No other packs had joined before.

“New times have come, and new traditions must be embraced.” Larentia held out her hands and Keiran held out his hand along with Luna. Their goddess placed her hands on both their palms. He could feel the smile on her face. “Yes, this mating shall be a good one… Be well, my children, and I expect to see you both soon.”

The room flashed and became as it was once before. He couldn’t find any words to say. He looked over at Luna. She looked just as he had felt…stunned and completely at a loss for words.